Rider Biomechanics: Find Your Unmovable Frame to Develop a More Effective Seat

The Mindset for Show Ring Success

By: Emily Glidden | TheFeelingRider.com

Emily Glidden and PB

Here are a few tips for preparing your mindset for a fun and successful ride in, or out, of the show ring.

 

1. Be present

 

Our best riding happens when we are in the mindset of full focus and connection. When we are completely immersed in the experience of riding, we are not only in our bliss, we are performing at our peak capacity.

Horse shows are full of distractions, for both you and your horse, that can easily pull you into overthinking and stiff, defensive riding. To get back in the flow and stay there, focus on your immediate sensory experience in connection with your horse: the sound of your horse's footfalls, the feeling of your weight across your horse's back, the feeling of your feet in the stirrups, your breath, the sound of your horse breathing, and so on.

 

2. Be prepared

 

Practice tuning out distractions at home to prepare yourself. The ability to be completely immersed in your experience and present with yourself is a skill that can be honed through practice. When you're grooming your horse, can you stay present and connected with her while overhearing your buddies gossiping? When the dumpster pick-up truck comes during your ride, can you maintain your connection, guidance and compassionate leadership? When you have a bad day, can you let all of the thinking about it go and be completely immersed in being with your horse? Practicing tuning out distractions and quieting a busy mind at home will prepare you to do the same at the show.

 

3. Resist "comparisonitis"

 

None of us is immune to comparisonitis (the affliction of comparing yourself to others and feeling badly about yourself) but you can inoculate yourself against it. Make a conscious decision to be proud of yourself, your horse, and what you've accomplished. Make a list of your strengths and recite them to yourself as needed. As you prepare for the show, think about what it is you want to show off. What do you want to be recognized for? It could be your progress and hard work, your poise under pressure, your sportsmanship, your gentle horsemanship, your accuracy and geometry, or other skills and movements you and your horse have mastered.

 

4. Be realistic

 

One of the benefits of going to horse shows is that riding among our peers, our competitors and under the eyes of expert judges gives us a subjective sense of our progress. This experience can often raise our standards for what we want from ourselves and our horse. If and when this happens to you, recognize that while inspiration is wonderful, goals must be measured according to a realistic time frame. The time to make big improvements is at home over weeks and months of practice, not overnight at a horse show. Setting goals you can achieve sets you and your horse up for a horse show experience that is satisfying and fun.

 

5. Focus on fun

 

Horse shows require significant time, money and energy, which can all add up to pressure that takes the fun out of showing. Remember why you love riding and showing, and focus on the fun of it all. If you're having a good time, you'll be me more relaxed, present and effective in the saddle. Moreover, your horse will feel your good vibes and be a more relaxed and joyful partner. Horses want to know that they're doing a good job and our best way to communicate that we're happy with them is to be thoroughly and completely happy!

 

I hope you enjoyed these tips for creating a mindset for success. If you'd like more support in practicing being present, preparing yourself for riding challenges and learning to set yourself up for success, join me for my "Get in the Zone" workshop October 13-14 at Paula Paglia Dressage. 

Click here to register.

Antibiotic Resistance is Real - How You Can Help

Source: USEF.org | By: Glenye Cain Oakford

If you've got an old bottle of leftover antibiotics sitting in your tack room, it might be tempting to use it the next time you have a horse with an issue. But giving those antibiotics without a veterinary diagnosis and prescription could contribute to an issue that's got veterinarians and human doctors concerned: antibiotic resistance.

"It's definitely an issue, and it's not just in the horse world," said Dr. Michele Frazer of Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. "It's an emerging issue over the last several decades. It's an issue in the human world, as well, and our veterinary practices can affect the issue of antibiotic resistance in the human population. That's the big concern."

Here's why. Bacteria can change, or mutate, over time. As they are exposed to different antibiotics, those mutations can help the bacteria become more effective at surviving-in other words, they can become resistant to the drugs that are supposed to kill them.

"When antibiotic resistance occurs, we can have development of what are called superbugs, or multi-resistant bacteria," Frazer explained. "Those are bacteria that are resistant maybe not to all antibiotics, but to many of our commonly used antibiotics. If a person or an animal develops a disease from those bacteria, the treatment options are limited."

This isn't just hypothetical. Antibiotic resistance is a real problem that doctors and veterinarians are already dealing with in their patients.

"There are several multi-resistant superbugs that have emerged in the last few years," Frazer said. "Two of the big ones that I've seen in the equine world are Clostridium difficile and MRSA [methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus]. Both of these bacteria are found in the environment. The issue is that they have changed their drug-resistance until they are much harder to treat.

"Clostridium difficile causes gastrointestinal disease, and it can also cause kidney disease in horses and humans. As this bacteria has changed, it's become harder to find antibiotics that are appropriate to treat it. For immuno-compromised people or people who have been in the hospital with another disease, a Clostridium difficile infection can be devastating."

In 2014, the White House announced a National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, and the FDA is working to educate consumers about the perils of drug-resistance and how it's connected to inappropriate antibiotic use, both in humans and animals.

"They are trying to get it out there to the public," Frazer said of the federal efforts.

"It's important to remember that antibiotics aren't benign," cautioned Frazer. "Even aside from the drug resistance, they're not benign. We can certainly see complications from them in any species, particularly the horse. A veterinarian's job is to look at what is wrong with the horse, what they can define as the primary cause of the illness, and then decide which antibiotic is appropriate and if the benefit of using that antibiotic outweighs the potential side-effects of using an antibiotic."

How You Can Help Prevent Antibiotic-Resistance

How you administer antibiotics to your horse-and how you yourself take them when they're prescribed to you-can affect the risk level for antibiotic-resistance, which goes up with inappropriate or indiscriminate antibiotic use. Here's how you can help.

1. DON'T give antibiotics without consulting your vet.

"Just because a horse has a fever or a horse isn't quite right one day, you don't necessarily give antibiotics," Frazer said. "Unless you have a defined medical reason to start an antibiotic and a veterinarian working with  you, you don't want to start antibiotics. You want to have a valid reason to treat with antibiotics. You also want your veterinarian on board, too, to make sure you're using an appropriate dosage. Underdosing means you're just suppressing the bacteria, not killing it."

Get a veterinary diagnosis for a horse's problem, even if you think you know what the diagnosis will be.

"There are certain types of pneumonia in the horse, like Rhodococcus pneumonia in foals, that respond to a select few antibiotics; the majority of our antibiotics aren't going to respond," Frazer explained. "So you need your veterinarian participating with you to define what your horse has and then choose the correct antibiotic. Putting the horse on a different antibiotic, first, is not going to help your horse, and, second, it's an unnecessary use of an antibiotic that's contributing to the development of drug-resistance."

2. DO complete the entire course of antibiotics that your veterinarian has prescribed.

It might be tempting to stop giving your horse antibiotics once he's looking and feeling better, but don't give in to that temptation. If your vet has prescribed a two-week course of antibiotics and your horse seems great after 10 days, go on and finish out the full 14 days.

"What we don't want to do is start an antibiotic protocol and not finish it," Frazer said. "That basically suppresses the bacteria but doesn't actually kill it. It just allows that bacteria a window to start mutating to a form that is going to be resistant to antibiotics."

3. DO keep accurate weights for your horses to help ensure accurate dosages.

4. DON'T pre-emptively put all the horses in your barn on antibiotics thinking it's good preventive medicine.

Consult with your veterinarian before putting any horse on antibiotics. Unnecessary antibiotic use in a healthy horse can contribute to resistance.

5. DON'T use antibiotics past their expiration dates.

These practices are important in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. So is research that can develop new ways to combat disease-causing bacteria.

"There is also ongoing research at many levels, including the National Institutes of Health, trying to combat drug-resistance and to develop new antibiotics," Frazer said. "I think there's hope. Research will give us more options, and at the same time we have to be judicious and do our part by not using antibiotics unnecessarily and, when antibiotic use is necessary, by making sure it's the appropriate antibiotic choice and that we complete the course."

 Days of Wine & Horses

 Hummingbird Cake

"Ah-ha!" Moments in Riding

In the canter pirouette, I learned that really looking where I was going and turning in the saddle helped position me so that I was not blocking the horse's turning.